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Paul WolfowitzAmerican politician and statesman, former President of the World Bank
Date of Birth: 22.12.1943
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Paul Wolfowitz: Early Life and Education
- Doctoral Studies and Academic Career
- Early Diplomatic and Defense Roles
- Defense Planning Guidance and Iraq War
- Professorship and Foreign Policy Engagement
- Deputy Secretary of Defense and Iraq Invasion
- World Bank Presidency and Controversies
- Later Career
Paul Wolfowitz: Early Life and Education
Paul Wolfowitz was born on December 22, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York City. He is the son of Jacob Wolfowitz, a prominent mathematician, and Lilian Dunndes Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz grew up in Ithaca, New York, where his father taught at Cornell University.
At the age of 14, Wolfowitz spent a year in Israel, where his father was a visiting professor at the University of Haifa. As his father desired, Wolfowitz enrolled at Cornell to study mathematics, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965. As a student, Wolfowitz received a student deferment from military service and thus did not participate in the Vietnam War.
Recognizing a growing interest in politics over science, Wolfowitz pursued a Master's degree in political science at the University of Chicago in 1966. During this time, he also worked as a summer intern at the Bureau of the Budget, where he drafted his first official memorandum on government subsidies in the agricultural sector.
Doctoral Studies and Academic Career
Wolfowitz continued his studies at the University of Chicago, receiving a Ph.D. in political science in 1972. Sources differ on the exact topic of his dissertation: either the proliferation of nuclear technology in the Middle East or the problem of desalination in the region.
From 1970 to 1973, Wolfowitz taught political science at Yale University, where one of his students was Lewis Libby, who later became Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. In 1973, Wolfowitz joined the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. From 1977 to 1980, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Regional Programs, where he studied the possibility of Soviet capture of Middle Eastern oil fields and the consequences of an Iraqi attack on Saudi Arabia or Kuwait.
Early Diplomatic and Defense Roles
With the election of Ronald Reagan to the White House, Wolfowitz became Director of Policy Planning at the State Department in 1981. He brought Lewis Libby on as his aide. From 1983 to 1986, Wolfowitz served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, liaising with leaders from over 20 countries. His efforts focused on promoting political transformation in the Philippines, normalizing US-China relations, and strengthening alliances with Japan and South Korea.
From 1986 to 1989, Wolfowitz served as US Ambassador to Indonesia. During his time there, the US Embassy in Jakarta was ranked as one of the most effective diplomatic missions in the world. Despite praise for his performance, critics alleged that the Jakarta embassy had done little to assist in the democratization of Indonesian society.
In 1989, Wolfowitz became Under Secretary of Defense for Policy under President George H.W. Bush, with Dick Cheney at the helm of the Department of Defense. Once again, he brought Lewis Libby as his aide.
Defense Planning Guidance and Iraq War
Wolfowitz's team played a central role in crafting US strategy for the Persian Gulf War. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the war because Saddam Hussein's regime remained intact, Wolfowitz and Libby drafted the "Defense Planning Guidance" in 1992, outlining a proactive foreign policy strategy.
The Pentagon, and Wolfowitz in particular, grappled with the necessity of reconfiguring US military strategy following the end of the Cold War. Wolfowitz participated in creating a new regional defense strategy for the US and led initiatives to reduce nuclear arsenals between the US and the USSR.
Professorship and Foreign Policy Engagement
When Democrat Bill Clinton became President in 1993, Wolfowitz became Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College within the National Defense University. From 1994 to 2001, he was Dean and Professor of International Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
In 1997, alongside Cheney and Richard Perle, Wolfowitz co-founded the Project for the New American Century, an influential Republican neoconservative think tank. As the 2000 presidential election approached, a group of foreign policy and national security advisors formed around the Republican nominee, George W. Bush. Known as "the Vulcans," the group included Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz.
Deputy Secretary of Defense and Iraq Invasion
Following Bush's victory in the 2000 election, Wolfowitz was nominated and unanimously confirmed by the Senate as Deputy Secretary of Defense in February 2001.
In his new role, Wolfowitz oversaw the Pentagon's budget. His reputation as a hardliner was reinforced in 2001 when he forcefully opposed the purchase of military equipment from countries deemed hostile to the US, resulting in the removal and destruction of 600,000 Chinese-made military berets.
Wolfowitz emerged as a leading "hawk" in the Bush administration, alongside Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. The events of September 11, 2001, cemented Wolfowitz's belief that global affairs had fundamentally changed. On the day of the attacks, he alerted the Pentagon to the potential connection between the terrorists and the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. Three days later, he was the first official to publicly call for targeting state sponsors of terrorism.
Wolfowitz actively participated in developing the US's counterterrorism strategy. After the successful operation in Afghanistan in 2001, the hawks within the administration gained further influence and began advocating for an attack on the next target: Iraq. Wolfowitz became one of the primary proponents of "preemptive action" against Saddam Hussein, alongside Cheney and Libby. According to some intelligence officials, the trio aggressively pursued any possible evidence linking Saddam with Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, the terrorist network responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Wolfowitz played a major role in planning the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. In the years that followed, he faced extensive congressional scrutiny and criticism for strategic misjudgments. Before the war, he had expected the Iraqi people to welcome American troops as liberators. In October 2003, following the official end of major combat operations in Iraq, Wolfowitz faced a serious security risk during a trip to the Middle East. The Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, where he met with military leaders, was hit by a rocket attack. Fifteen people were killed, but Wolfowitz escaped unharmed.
World Bank Presidency and Controversies
Wolfowitz's setbacks in the Bush administration may have contributed to his appointment as head of an international organization: in 2005, he became President of the World Bank. On March 31, 2005, the Executive Directors of the World Bank Group unanimously approved his nomination. Yet many critics abroad, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, strongly opposed the appointment of a proponent of US global dominance to lead an international financial institution.
Wolfowitz pledged to eliminate corruption among loan recipients, but detractors argued that his policies left needy countries without assistance.
From 1968 to 2002, Wolfowitz was married to Clare Selgin, with whom he had two daughters and a son. After their divorce, Wolfowitz began an extramarital relationship with Shaha Ali Riza, a World Bank official, Arab feminist, and British citizen. When Wolfowitz became World Bank President in 2005, his relationship with Riza drew increased scrutiny, as the organization's policy prohibited such relationships between supervisors and subordinates.
The situation was temporarily resolved by transferring Riza to the State Department, but a new scandal broke in 2007. It was discovered that Wolfowitz had used his position to secure a substantial pay increase for his girlfriend, who was earning $193,590 annually, more than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Wolfowitz initially claimed that this move had been approved by World Bank management, but this was proven false, leading to a public apology. The situation escalated, with many critics calling for Wolfowitz's resignation.
On May 7, 2007, a panel convened by the World Bank to investigate Wolfowitz's actions found that he had breached the organization's ethical standards by favoring his girlfriend. On May 17, Wolfowitz announced that he would step down from his post at the end of June. On May 30, President Bush nominated Robert Zoellick, former U.S. Trade Representative and Deputy Secretary of State, to succeed Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank. On June 25, the World Bank board approved Zoellick's nomination, and he officially replaced Wolfowitz on July 1.
Later Career
Following his departure from the World Bank, Wolfowitz became a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. On January 24, 2008, he was appointed Chairman of the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) within the US State Department.
Paul Wolfowitz is known as the author of numerous publications on foreign policy, diplomacy, and national security. He has served on the advisory board of Foreign Affairs magazine. Many consider Wolfowitz to be a key figure in the Israeli lobby in the United States. His connection to Israel extends beyond his family background and the general neoconservative support for the state. His sister Laura, a biologist by profession, emigrated from the US to Israel and married an Israeli. However, unlike other neoconservatives, Wolfowitz has expressed support for the creation of a Palestinian state, drawing criticism from pro-
